1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to vehicle braking systems, and more particularly to a vehicle brake hose system where the hose is comprised of a relatively stiff (low expansion) inner liner with a metal braid covering to provide the required strength. In hoses of this type of construction, it is necessary to provide some type of whip dampener within the assembly in order for it to pass the Department of Transportation's (DOT) whip test specified in federal motor vehicle safety standard No. 106 (FMVSS 106).
2. Description of the Related Art
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,247, the teachings of which are incorporated herein of interest, I disclose a hose system for brakes of vehicles adapted to replace the flexible hose of a vehicle that extends from the pre-existing brake caliper of a vehicle through a bracket and to the pre-existing rigid metal tubing of the vehicle and thence to the pre-existing brake master cylinder of the vehicle. The system includes a flexible hose of stainless steel braid protected extruded Teflon material having a whip dampening member mounted on the hose receivable in the pre-existing bracket of the vehicle.
In the system of my U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,247, which works quite well, there is a need for providing a portion of flexible hose between the whip dampener and the rigid tubing of the vehicle coupled to the brake master cylinder. In that system, there was a need to reroute or shorten the original preexisting piece of rigid tubing. P In my co-pending application Ser. No. 08/863,734, filed May 27, 1994, I disclose a hose system wherein a bracket assembly is provided for the whip dampener in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,247 where preexisting rigid metal tubing of a vehicle may be used while retaining the flexing required to carry out the whip dampening desired.
Although both whip dampener systems work quite well, I have discovered that a short piece of flexible hose that is more flexible than the preexisting hose of such vehicle braking systems may be used as a whip dampener. Such an arrangement is inexpensive and meets D.O.T. requirements while still providing the advantage of a hose assembly which greatly reduces the expansion of said assembly and thereby improves the efficiency of the entire brake system